After an extended hiatus, Singer-songwriter Corey Tam and Poubelle International’s Zane Thomas Stroud join forces again to create a fresh collection of songs. This project has been a long-winded musical affair that has finally solidified in the form of ‘The Gatling Gun Revival’. Gathering ideas in their spare time and eager to get their hands on any instrument they can find, this folk duo aims to write simple, genuine and introspective songs about love, loss, hope, regret and everything in between. Tam, having been influenced prominently by the sounds of Elliot Smith, Simon & Garfunkel and the Beatles and Stroud, a Texan raised around church hymns, gospel and country music, combine their experience as songwriters to create an intricate mesh of indie rock, folk, country and bluegrass.

Anna Aaron

Anna Aaron was born 1985 in Basel and spent her childhood in Asia. Her first self-released EP I'll Dry Your Tears Little Murderer was recorded with friends in 2007. Subsequently, Anna signed a contract with Lausanne-based label Two Gentlemen and released her debut album Dogs in Spirit in 2011, with which she toured extensively through Europe. Jazz musician Erik Truffaz, who had contributed a trumpet solo on one of the songs, invited Anna to write and perform for his 2012 album El Tiempo de la Revolución. In the meantime, the demos for Anna's second album were sent to producer David Kosten in London, who responded with great enthusiasm to the songs and flew to Basel to meet her. In 2012/2013 Anna recorded her second album Neuro in London with winning team David Kosten, Ben Christophers and Jason Cooper. Anna toured with Erik Truffaz to promote El Tiempo de la Revolución in 2013 and released her new album in 2014. In 2015, she returned to the studio, this time with her brother, to work on her third album.

Mamer

Mamer is a Kazak-language folk singer from China known for his modern interpretation of traditional Kazakh music.

Once signed to renowned British world music label Real World, Mamer formed his IZ band (meaning footprint in Kazakh) in 2002 and released the seminal album Eagles on the label in 2008. In addition to being a Kazakh folk singer, he is also a masterful dombra player and teacher. Later in his career, Mamer would go on to form bands such as Bande, Mekrop, TAT, and 51-Rayon to explore genres ranging from rock to experimental music. At the same time, Mamer has continued to write and record music in traditional Kazakh, Uyghur and Kyrgyz styles.

Zhang Dong, like Mamer, started his music career from Urumqi in the 1990s. He joined the IZ band in 2009 and plays the drums as well as ethnic music instruments such as the dombra, mouth harp, and shaman drum.

This time both Mamer and Zhang Dong will perform Kazakh folk music in a new way, and put a contemporary spin on traditional instruments such as the dombra and mouth harp.

GDJYB

GDJYB is a Hong Kong-based indie math-folk girl band. Formed in August 2012, the group consists of guitarist Soni Cheng, drummer Hei Hei Ng, vocalist Soft Liu and bassist Wing Chan. The name GDJYB is from a local Chinese dish (Gai Daan Jing Yuk Bang, steamed meat loaf with egg). By fusing math-rock and folk music genres in Honglish (Hong Kong English), GDJYB brings something distinctive and fresh to the indie music scene through changing tempos and patterns.

The band have played at various live houses and festivals, including Fringe Club, Hidden Agenda and Clockenflap. In 2015, they took part in the Taiwan Wake Up Music Festival and organised their first mini concert in Taipei. In 2016, the girls were the first Hong Kong band to play at the Singapore Laneway Festival.

This November, GDJYB will make its debut at the Iceland Airwaves Music Festival 2017 as Hong Kong’s first representatives.

29 October (Sunday): 1:00pm-3:00pm

Fantastic Saxophone Ensemble

A new saxophone ensemble which was formed by saxophonist and tutor Timothy Sun, with the ambition to promote saxophone music to the next level in Hong Kong.

Haley & Norah Wong

Haley Wong is 10 years old. She was the Champion of the Osaka International Music Competition in Junior Harp Division (under-15) in 2016, which has made her the first-ever Hong Kong kid to win a championship in the junior categories of this competition.

Haley is currently learning the harp with Ms Yeung Lauyee who graduated from the Royal Academy of Music. Her recent achievements include winning the Grand Prix title at the 18th Osaka International Music Competition Hong Kong regional round, after being one of the winners in the Senior Harp Division (above-16).

Under the guidance of veteran soprano Ms Myra Chih, Haley won numerous prizes in regional singing competitions, including those from the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival.

Haley’s further engagements include participating in the Korea International Harp Competition and the Grand Final of Osaka International Music Competition Senior Division.

Norah Wong is 7 years old, and is the younger sister of Haley Wong. She is always an eager performer and an intellectually curious learner, and is currently learning both singing and the piano from Chih.

Norah participated in some regional music competitions this year, and was awarded 1st prize in both singing and piano at her grade level.

Case Sensitive

Saxon and Jarvis Whittaker, the brothers behind the young rock duo Case Sensitive, have a serious devotion to guitar-oriented rock and blues. Despite being just 12 and 10 years of age they tackle some classic rock numbers and generate a seriously big sound!

4 November (Saturday): 1:45pm-5:00pm

Remark: Due to programme scheduling, the Weekend Concert on 4 Nov has been rescheduled from 2:45pm – 6pm to 1:45pm to 5:00pm.

AMA

Multi-disciplinary artist AMA is a painter, poet and singer-songwriter who combines a range of expressive art forms into interactive art pieces and performances. Much of her work centers around her fascination with spirituality. AMA will perform a series of works together with violaist William Lane and percussionist Heidi Law.10 String Symphony

Nashville duo 10 String Symphony began as a partnership of mutual admiration a much needed creative release valve for Rachel Baiman and Christian Sedelmyer, two 5¬string fiddle players and veteran sidemen of Nashville’s music scene. Rachel, a former Illinois state fiddle champion in the old time tradition, needed an outlet for the new sort of songs she was writing, while Christian, originally a classically trained violinist, now a current touring member of the Jerry Douglas Band, was looking to get in touch the impetuous spirit of the rock bands he played in before his arrival in Nashville. With the love of the 5¬string fiddle and its musical possibilities as its focal point, the band’s mission statement was as clear as it was expansive: Two Fiddles, Two Voices, Epic music.

Groove Lee

Hailing from all parts of the world, this international 10-piece funk band calls Hong Kong its home. The band’s name pays tribute to the city’s biggest hero, Bruce Lee, while its members use his legendary flow as inspiration to play great funky music and have a blast while doing it.Jim Kroft

Jim Kroft is a British musician and film maker who has lived in Berlin since 2007. His song writing has an old-fashioned root combined with a modern sensibility, and Jim presents it sometimes as a solo acoustic performer and other times with a full rock n roll band.In 2014, he started the "Journeys" project which has so far led him to China, East-Africa, Russia, Europe and most recently the United States of America.

The Journeys project is a combination of music, documentary, and photography all made with the simple ethos - “one man, one guitar, one camera”. It is a celebration of independence, the expression of a belief that music remains the great connector, and the result of a conviction that it is our humanity and not our boundaries, which ultimately defines us.